xcomfandomcom-20200223-history
Heavy Class
The Heavy Class is one of the Soldier Classes in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The primary role of the Heavy Class is delivering large-scale damage to as many targets as possible, through the use of explosive ordnance or heavy gunfire. It is the only class capable of using Rocket Launchers, which provide high area damage and demolish obstacles. Rookie promotion is slightly weighted toward classes you have fewer of, but promotion is otherwise completely random. XCOM Database The Heavy Weapons specialist is responsible for deploying high explosive munitions against the enemy. Primarily relying on a shoulder mounted rocket launcher for both offensive strikes and the demolition of obstacles, these specially trained troops are critical to the successful completion of tactical objectives. Weapons The Heavy Class can be equipped with Light Machine Guns and Rocket Launchers. Abilities When a soldier is promoted, certain ranks give the player the option to choose 1 from the 2 available abilities to give to their soldier. Tactics The Heavy is a front line fighter that excels in winning straight fights with sustained fire from cover. He has explosives to break up enemy positions and to level the playing field if overwhelmed. He also excels at destroying enemy cover with explosives and heavy weapon fire. Like the other classes, there are two promotion paths for the Heavy. The left side turns the Heavy into a demolitions expert, whereas the right side focuses on holding the line and utility. The Heavy Class favors stationary positioning, as many key abilities may be used only when no movement is made. To make the most out of this type of soldier, it is advisable to position the Heavy behind the best available and the most durable cover on the front line, to minimize his need for movement. Secondly, the Heavy is effective at dealing with both clustered enemies and enemies in cover, either through rocket weaponry or the Suppression ability. Rockets can hit many enemies at once and destroy their cover, exposing them to gunfire from your other troops. Suppression can be used to lock down would-be flankers and melee enemies and to provide safe passage for squad mates advancing toward enemies in strong cover. Builds and Promotions Players who have completed Ironman on Classic and Impossible difficulties recommend taking at least Bullet Swarm, Shredder Rocket, and Danger Zone. Here are some explanations as to why: Bullet Swarm >>> Holo-Targeting. Reason: Bullet Swarm is class defining; This ability allows the Heavy to shoot twice per turn, or shoot+grenade, shoot+Overwatch, shoot+Suppression, shoot+hunker down (this will see frequent use), shoot THEN move (Also a lifesaver if you get an unlucky string of missed shots), etc. The early double shot is simply devastating in shootouts, and the alternative actions available after the first shot ensure the Heavy is adaptable and comfortable on the front line. Even double shot misses are relevant as LMG fire can destroy light cover, leaving some targets exposed for easy kills just from the high volume of fire. Holo-Targeting does have a few things going for it, the modest 10 Aim bonus is handy for aiding low-ranking soldiers in landing their shots and encourages focus fire as a squad against large targets. Holo-Targeting promotes a more mobile strategy as it's unaffected by an initial half-move (where Bullet Swarm would have no effect). Holo-Targeting is useful for offsetting the reaction fire penalty and landing Suppression shots on melee units; you'll also trigger Rapid Reaction more reliably with Holo-Targeting. However, Bullet Swarm remains comparable or superior against large targets as having an additional shot with a heavy weapon against a large enemy is frequently better than a few aim bonuses. Holo-Targeting is weaker as a stand-alone talent, so selecting it implies a commitment to its synergies on the right side of the promotion tree, which are are weaker individually at least until they hit critical mass as you attain the final promotion. Shredder Rocket >> Suppression. Reason: Rockets are fantastic, and Shredder Rocket is another rocket; it destroys cover, hits multiple targets, is almost guaranteed damage, detonates cars/power sources/explosive terrain, has a long range and a wide area of effect, and places a damage increasing debuff on the enemies struck. Suppression is a niche utility skill better supplied by S.H.I.V.s and the Support Class's Rifle Suppression ability, as Supports don't deal nearly as much damage as Heavies and S.H.I.V.s can't gain experience from kills. You really want your heavy killing stuff instead, two suppressions per squad is plenty, and suppression's utility overlaps greatly with the always-present alternative of Overwatch. Shredder Rocket even aids with alien capture almost as much as Suppression as it provides exactly 4 damage, allowing you to lower alien health precisely without weapon damage variance or critical hits killing them by mistake. The Holo-targeting and Suppression combo can be useful for locking down big targets being focus fired upon, but again, shooting twice is generally better, and Shredder Rocket's debuff can also be helpful against them in a pinch. But the main reason Shredder Rocket is better is that dead things don't need to be locked down. The main uses of Suppression are: #1 neutralize aliens that are dangerously close to gaining a flank; #2 prevent the movement of exposed & flanked targets so they don't regain effective cover, and #3 to clear away Overwatchers, as Suppression removes Overwatch. The trouble with #1 is that the aliens often respond to being suppressed by using their special abilities (grenades, poison, psionics, etc) which is usually worse than the alien just taking a potshot. Worse still, none of these actions trigger the reaction fire from the Suppression. And as for preventing a possible flank, Overwatch will also work. The only exception is when there are melee units in the area or if new aliens join the battle that turn, in which case Suppression is the prophylactic move of choice. As for case #2, the trouble is that Overwatch generally gives you an effect that is the same or superior to suppression. Suppression can freeze only one exposed target but Overwatch can freeze multiple enemies AND prevents other aliens in cover from moving. Just as in #1, suppression is only better if and only if melee enemies are present or another alien pack joins the fight that turn (melee enemies will usually ignore reactive fire, consuming the Overwatch, and new aliens joining would also consume the Overwatch, meaning your exposed enemies are no longer held in Overwatch). And lastly, the problem with #3 is you frequently can't see the Overwatchers until you've already run into them, which is why an Assault with Lightning Reflexes is head and shoulders above Suppression as a method of dealing with Overwatching aliens; Lightning Reflexes also doesn't cost a soldier's turn or ammo! That said, you won't always have enough overwatch clearing effects and having another can give you options. Though usually if multiple aliens go on Overwatch that is an ideal turn to just park and take a free turn's worth of potshots at everything without fear of retaliation (dropping an explosive and popping smoke ideal but optional). Suppression also costs more ammo than a normal shot and then charges you for each reaction shot, which is particularly bad for the Heavy who only has 3 shots per clip (and only 6 after Ammo Conservation). Lastly, as the Aim penalty is only -30%, on higher difficulties aliens can still hit your squad unless you place a target under multiple suppressions, which is generally of dubious use. That said, in a pinch it can be handy to stack Suppressions to buy a turn against something dangerous like a Sectopod. Suppression has a few uses, but Shredder Rocket just has a bigger impact. HEAT Ammo > Rapid Reaction. Both have merits, though HEAT Ammo may have a slight edge. HEAT Ammo makes your Heavy extremely effective against Cyberdiscs and Sectopods, some of the more dangerous enemies. HEAT Ammo also increases the Heavies' explosive damage against them. It allows you to kill the accompanying Drone swarms in one blast, which is especially handy in Terror missions where these pick off civilians rapidly. Rapid Reaction is an unreliable general purpose boost to reactive fire as the Heavies' aim is generally not that great. You won't see Rapid Reaction come up as often as you'd like. Holo-Targeting/Suppression does help with this somewhat as they offer better chances to hit on reactive fire. If you are having trouble with Chryssalids, Rapid Reaction is a good pick, as melee aliens must move in order to attack, so they always trigger large quantities of close range reactive fire. In a typical Shredder build, HEAT Ammo tends to have an edge. In a Holo-Targeting build, Rapid Reaction is slightly better. Grenadier <<< Danger Zone. Danger Zone significantly improves your ace-in-the-hole with either build. The size increase on Danger Zone is quite significant, and it extends your rocket's reach even further. Nailing 6+ aliens with a single Danger Zone rocket is not uncommon. In fact, the area of effect is so big that your rocket can sometimes run off target and still kill everything it originally intended to. Grenadier can't compete with Danger Zone for several reasons: First off, Heavies tend to get S.C.O.P.E.s for equipment due to the high damage potential of the LMG and their low accuracy. The Heavy also already has an explosive option for missions, so by electing to take a grenade you aren't gaining a new utility, just more explosives with lesser range. Next, Shredder builds would rarely use a 4th or 5th explosive and Suppression builds looking to trigger Rapid Reaction almost always have S.C.O.P.E.s. And while a Suppression build tends to lack explosives, Danger Zone adds an area of effect onto Suppression which is transformative; Danger Zone can result in you suppressing multiple targets at once, (potentially) granting you reactive fire on each of these targets. Realistically, you'll only catch 2+ in Suppression once every few missions or so, but it's pretty handy when you do. Rocketeer = Mayhem. Both abilities are strong, and there is no clear winner. Rocketeer makes rationing rockets simpler. There is safety in having an additional source of reliable damage, and destroying cover and exposing the enemy is always relevant. Mayhem, on the other hand, maximizes the power of your rockets and gives you the ideal 'Oh Crap' button available in game against clusters of enemies. It also allows you to kill Chryssalids in one shot, no Blaster Launcher required. For right-side builds, Mayhem is the Pièce de résistance, offering minor, reliable AOE damage on Suppression, making Suppression frequently worthwhile. For demolition setups with the Shredder Rocket, both promotions are a significant upgrade; select whichever suits your play style best. Rocketeer can speed up missions overall greatly - there are always a few stubborn alien packs, and with Rocketeer you can expose and remove one more group at the first sign of trouble while retaining another in case things hit the fan later. Rocketeer is exceptional for setting up kills for your rookies, as you have 3 rockets to expose targets and wound them, making them easy prey in follow up shots. Mayhem is a safer pick for the more dangerous missions you'd bring the vets on, especially Terror sites, where you can find yourself overrun in an instant and need to call down the thunder. Miscellaneous Tips and Information It can also be noted that the Mayhem ability increases rocket damage and the initial damage of the Suppression ability by one point per tech level of the main weapon, bringing maximum rocket damage to 12 when equipped with the Blaster Launcher and the Heavy Plasma. On Terror missions extra care needed when deploying explosives in general and firing rockets in particular, as any Civilian caught in blast will die, lowering mission score. Build Ideas General Purpose Build: Bullet Swarm, Shredder Rocket, HEAT Ammo, Danger Zone, Mayhem This is the build to take for the first Heavy, especially in harder modes. Danger Zone + Mayhem ensures that the whole group of lesser enemies die with one rocket blast in mid game, and Bullet Swarm + HEAT Ammo gives you firepower against cyberdiscs and mechtoids. Rocketeer Build: Bullet Swarm, Shredder Rocket, HEAT Ammo, Danger Zone, Rocketeer Rocketeer is slighty better in missions with a lot of enemies, otherwise not too different from general purpose build. Suppressor Build: Holo Targeting, Suppression, Rapid Reaction, Danger Zone, Mayhem More of a support build for heavies when there is already a surplus of rockets in the squad. Excels in close range combat against Chryssalids and Zombies as well as area suppression. With Danger Zone + Mayhem and Heavy Plasma, suppression deals a guarantee 3 damage in a small area, equivalent to a grenade. Holo Targeting triggers with Suppression to give a much needed aim boost against Sectopods, which has +40 permanent defense, and Suppression is always useful. Grenadier Build: Bullet Swarm, Suppression, HEAT Ammo, Grenadier, Mayhem The idea of this build is to provide maximum flexibility. Grenades can be used after firing with Bullet Swarm, as well as Suppression. This gives you a lot of options in terms of actions, while still having decent firepower. With Heavy Plasma and Mayhem, Alien Grenades do a total of 8 damage, and Grenadier adds another grenade plus yet another point of damage. This means you're carrying 18 damages that you can unleash after moving/firing, unlike rockets, and if you choose to carry two alien grenades, that's a total of 36 damages, which is more than the damages from all 3 rockets. The small grenade radius also means much less valuable ship equipments will be blown up when trying to kill a tough enemy. Equipment and Upgrades Equipment S.C.O.P.E. is extremely useful for Heavies of all ranks as they maintain the lowest Aim of all the classes. Gene Mods In the XCOM: Enemy Within expansion, Gene Mods can gain Eye bonuses useful for either replacing or supplementing a S.C.O.P.E. especially when using Bullet Swarm; Hyper Reactive Pupils, which confers +10 Aim after missing a shot, making the second shot of Bullet Swarm is even deadlier if the first misses. Mimetic Skin greatly increases the viability of the Suppression + Danger Zone combo, allowing a Heavy to suppress all three aliens in an unactivated pod. Multiplayer Heavy Classes The following is a detailed break-down of the Heavy class stats and abilities in multiplayer mode. Note: Each soldier class has a base cost of 800 points, which would need to be added to the values above to determine the point value of a particular build. The above point and stat values reflect the default (i.e. 0 point) equipment load-out. Category:Soldier Classes